Christian Life Table Discussions
Living as a Child of the Father

Select Leader who will decide when to move from section to section. Select the person whose father was born the closest to this location.

Introduce one another and then see if each person, thinking back to childhood, can express the feelings that arose “when your father caught you doing something you were not supposed to be doing.”

Personalize. To help one another see the relevance of the topic for life today, please first read over all the following questions, and then let people talk about any of them (it is not necessary to take them in order or to talk about all of them).

The Questions: In what ways does God embody the “ideals” of being a father? Since Jesus tells me I can address God as my “father,” what does that say about me? If I truly grasped what it meant for God to be my “father,” how would that show in my life?

God’s Word. After reading each verse below, pick out something that is true about me because God is my father, and discuss what that would mean for daily living.

Isaiah 64:8: You, O Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter.

Romans 8:13-17: For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. Because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received a spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs --- heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (The word Abba is an intimate way to address our father, similar to the English word “daddy.”)

1 Peter 1:14-19: As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written, “Be holy, because I am holy.” Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. For it is not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down by your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

Application. Based on the verses above, I think God’s will for me today is … (this may be different for each person)

Insight. What is there about me that keeps me from doing this? (This will provide insight into your sin nature, whether it be areas of deliberate disobedience or of weakness. Seeing our sin afresh leads to seeing our savior afresh).

Christ. How is Christ  the answer to the particular insights surfaced above (these would  include forgiveness for what is past, and strengthening your new life for the next time to temptation comes up). Prayer at this point could include repenting of sins, and asking God to bring about change.

Future. Promises to rely on next time the problem arises:

1 John 3:1-How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope within him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

Scripture quotes from New International Version, copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.